Left: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland and deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration, speaks in a hotel restaurant in San Salvador, El Salvador, Thursday, April 17, 2025 (Press Office Sen. Van Hollen, via AP). Right: President Donald Trump arrives for a formal dinner at the Paleis Huis ten Bosch ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 24, 2025 (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber).
Kilmar Abrego Garcia“s long march through various lock-ups and legal institutions reached a crescendo of sorts on Wednesday as two judges in two different jurisdictions issued orders in his favor.
The upshot of those rulings, however, may take a while to sort out.
First, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, Jr., a Barack Obama appointee, issued a memorandum opinion and order which denied the Trump administration’s motion to revoke a late June release order.
In a strongly worded 37-page opinion, the judge sitting in Nashville touched upon themes of “liberty” and “fairness” and effectively ordered Abrego Garcia be released from criminal custody – while leaving the release conditions up to his magistrate, or assistant, judge.
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While mulling over the various arguments marshaled by the parties, the court ultimately found the government offered enough evidence to warrant a detention hearing – but not enough evidence to show Abrego Garcia was either a danger to the community or ran the risk of not appearing for his criminal trial on charges of human smuggling.
“The Government has presented no evidence that Abrego has failed to appear for court proceedings in the past, that he failed to abide by the protective orders Ms. Vasquez took out against him, or that he has otherwise ever shown a pattern of disrespect for the law,” Crenshaw explained. “Nor has the Government presented evidence that Abrego has the financial means to finance flight, even if he wanted to. To the contrary, the Court has evidence before it that suggests that if the Court released Abrego on conditions, he would comply.”
Then, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, a Joe Biden appointee, issued her own memorandum opinion and concomitant order – barring the government from placing Abrego Garcia into immigration detention in either Tennessee or Maryland, upon his release in the Volunteer State.
In an 18-page opinion, the Baltimore-based judge directed the government to place Abrego Garcia under “supervision” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Baltimore – in response to an emergency request filed by his attorneys late last month.
“The requested relief is necessary to preserve this Court’s jurisdiction and to ensure that Abrego Garcia receives the full injunctive relief previously ordered ‘to restore the status quo ante,’ and consistent with the United States Supreme Court’s mandate that ‘his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,'” the Xinis opinion reads.
Additionally, if the Trump administration tries to deport Abrego Gargia for the second time, it must provide at least 72 hours’ notice of its intent to do so, the judge ordered.
Still, his immediate release is not in the offing.
Over the weekend, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys filed a four-page motion in Tennessee seeking a “30-day stay of the issuance of any release order” in the event the government’s revocation motion failed.
“We have been advised by the government that if the Court denies the government’s motion for revocation, the defendant would be transferred to the custody of the Department of Homeland Security and DHS would begin removal proceedings,” the motion reads. “Given the uncertainty of the outcome of any removal proceedings, Mr. Abrego respectfully requests that, should the Court deny the government’s motion for revocation, the issuance of an order releasing Mr. Abrego be delayed for 30 days to allow Mr. Abrego to evaluate his options and determine whether additional relief is necessary.”
Crenshaw, in his separate order, referred that motion to his magistrate judge as well, which was granted almost immediately.
Now, Abrego Garcia will likely remain behind bars for at least another 30 days.
